Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Break \Break\, v. t. [imp. {broke}, (Obs. {Brake}); p. p.
   {Broken}, (Obs. {Broke}); p. pr. & vb. n. {Breaking}.] [OE.
   breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS. brekan, D. breken, OHG.
   brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to creak, Sw. braka,
   br["a]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to break, Goth. brikan to
   break, L. frangere. Cf. {Bray} to pound, {Breach},
   {Fragile}.]
   1. To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with
      violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal;
      to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
      --Shak.

   2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a
      package of goods.

   3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or
      communicate.

            Katharine, break thy mind to me.      --Shak.

   4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.

            Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To
            break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. --Milton

   5. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or
      terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to
      break one's journey.

            Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their
            senses I'll restore.                  --Shak.

   6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as,
      to break a set.

   7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to
      pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British
      squares.

   8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.

            The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments
            with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
                                                  --Prescott.

   9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller
      denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.

   10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as,
       to break flax.

   11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.

             An old man, broken with the storms of state.
                                                  --Shak.

   12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a
       fall or blow.

             I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
                                                  --Dryden.

   13. To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to,
       and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as,
       to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose
       cautiously to a friend.

   14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to
       discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or
       saddle. ``To break a colt.'' --Spenser.

             Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
                                                  --Shak.

   15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to
       ruin.

             With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
             Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
                                                  --Dryden.

   16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to
       cashier; to dismiss.

             I see a great officer broken.        --Swift.

   Note: With prepositions or adverbs:

   {To break down}.
       (a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's
           strength; to break down opposition.
       (b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to
           break down a door or wall.

   {To break in}.
       (a) To force in; as, to break in a door.
       (b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in.
           

   {To break of}, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break
      one of a habit.

   {To break off}.
       (a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.
       (b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. ``Break off thy sins by
           righteousness.'' --Dan. iv. 27.

   {To break open}, to open by breaking. ``Open the door, or I
      will break it open.'' --Shak.

   {To break out}, to take or force out by breaking; as, to
      break out a pane of glass.

   {To break out a cargo}, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it
      easily.

   {To break through}.
       (a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the
           force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to
           break through the enemy's lines; to break through the
           ice.
       (b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony.

   {To break up}.
       (a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow
           ground). ``Break up this capon.'' --Shak. ``Break up
           your fallow ground.'' --Jer. iv. 3.
       (b) To dissolve; to put an end to. ``Break up the
           court.'' --Shak.

   {To break} (one) {all up}, to unsettle or disconcert
      completely; to upset. [Colloq.]

   Note: With an immediate object:

   {To break the back}.
       (a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.
       (b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the
           back of a difficult undertaking.

   {To break bulk}, to destroy the entirety of a load by
      removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to
      transfer in detail, as from boats to cars.

   {To break cover}, to burst forth from a protecting
      concealment, as game when hunted.

   {To break a deer} or {stag}, to cut it up and apportion the
      parts among those entitled to a share.

   {To break fast}, to partake of food after abstinence. See
      {Breakfast}.

   {To break ground}.
       (a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence
           excavation, as for building, siege operations, and
           the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a
           canal, or a railroad.
       (b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.
       (c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom.

   {To break the heart}, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief.
      

   {To break a house} (Law), to remove or set aside with
      violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of
      the fastenings provided to secure it.

   {To break the ice}, to get through first difficulties; to
      overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a
      subject.

   {To break jail}, to escape from confinement in jail, usually
      by forcible means.

   {To break a jest}, to utter a jest. ``Patroclus . . . the
      livelong day breaks scurril jests.'' --Shak.

   {To break joints}, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc.,
      so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with
      those in the preceding course.

   {To break a lance}, to engage in a tilt or contest.

   {To break the neck}, to dislocate the joints of the neck.

   {To break no squares}, to create no trouble. [Obs.]

   {To break a path}, {road}, etc., to open a way through
      obstacles by force or labor.

   {To break upon a wheel}, to execute or torture, as a criminal
      by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs
      with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly
      employed in some countries.

   {To break wind}, to give vent to wind from the anus.

   Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate;
        infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.

Break \Break\, v. i.
   1. To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually
      with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.

   2. To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a
      bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.

            Else the bottle break, and the wine runneth out.
                                                  --Math. ix.
                                                  17.

   3. To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to
      appear; to dawn.

            The day begins to break, and night is fled. --Shak.

            And from the turf a fountain broke, and gurgled at
            our feet.                             --Wordsworth.

   4. To burst forth violently, as a storm.

            The clouds are still above; and, while I speak, A
            second deluge o'er our head may break. --Dryden.

   5. To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the
      clouds are breaking.

            At length the darkness begins to break. --Macaulay.

   6. To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose
      health or strength.

            See how the dean begins to break; Poor gentleman! he
            droops apace.                         --Swift.

   7. To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my
      heart is breaking.

   8. To fall in business; to become bankrupt.

            He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes
            break, and come to poverty.           --Bacn.

   9. To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait;
      as, to break into a run or gallop.

   10. To fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks
       when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note
       is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound
       instead. Also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at
       puberty.

   11. To fall out; to terminate friendship.

             To break upon the score of danger or expense is to
             be mean and narrow-spirited.         --Collier.

   Note: With prepositions or adverbs: 

   {To break away}, to disengage one's self abruptly; to come or
      go away against resistance.

            Fear me not, man; I will not break away. --Shak.

   {To break down}.
       (a) To come down by breaking; as, the coach broke down.
       (b) To fail in any undertaking.

                 He had broken down almost at the outset.
                                                  --Thackeray.

   {To break forth}, to issue; to come out suddenly, as sound,
      light, etc. ``Then shall thy light break forth as the
      morning.'' --Isa. lviii. 8;

   Note: often with into in expressing or giving vent to one's
         feelings. ``Break forth into singing, ye mountains.''
         --Isa. xliv. 23.

   {To break from}, to go away from abruptly.

            This radiant from the circling crowd he broke.
                                                  --Dryden.

   {To break into}, to enter by breaking; as, to break into a
      house.

   {To break in upon}, to enter or approach violently or
      unexpectedly. ``This, this is he; softly awhile; let us
      not break in upon him.'' --Milton.

   {To break loose}.
       (a) To extricate one's self forcibly. ``Who would not,
           finding way, break loose from hell?'' --Milton.
       (b) To cast off restraint, as of morals or propriety.

   {To break off}.
       (a) To become separated by rupture, or with suddenness
           and violence.
       (b) To desist or cease suddenly. ``Nay, forward, old man;
           do not break off so.'' --Shak.

   {To break off from}, to desist from; to abandon, as a habit.
      

   {To break out}.
       (a) To burst forth; to escape from restraint; to appear
           suddenly, as a fire or an epidemic. ``For in the
           wilderness shall waters break out, and stream in the
           desert.'' --Isa. xxxv. 6
       (b) To show itself in cutaneous eruptions; -- said of a
           disease.
       (c) To have a rash or eruption on the akin; -- said of a
           patient.

   {To break over}, to overflow; to go beyond limits.

   {To break up}.
       (a) To become separated into parts or fragments; as, the
           ice break up in the rivers; the wreck will break up
           in the next storm.
       (b) To disperse. ``The company breaks up.'' --I. Watts.

   {To break upon}, to discover itself suddenly to; to dawn
      upon.

   {To break with}.
       (a) To fall out; to sever one's relations with; to part
           friendship. ``It can not be the Volsces dare break
           with us.'' --Shak. ``If she did not intend to marry
           Clive, she should have broken with him altogether.''
           --Thackeray.
       (b) To come to an explanation; to enter into conference;
           to speak. [Obs.] ``I will break with her and with her
           father.'' --Shak.